Textile machines



Oct. 15, 1963 J. K. P. MACKIE 3,106,816

TEXTILE MACHINES Filed June 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l /4 00 54 004046276"mun;

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TEXTILE MACHINES Filed June 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 69. 3 0 IElm"lllllllllll I United States Patent Ofilice 3,10%,3 1 6 Patented Get.15, 1 963 land Filed June 26, 1%2, Ser. No. 205,384 Claims priority,application Great Britain June 29, 1961. 3 Claims. (Cl. 57-5852) Thisinvention relates to yarn twisting machines of the two-for-one inflowtype in which the material to be twisted is caused to be ballooned by aflyer whilst it is being fed to the winding spindle which is situatedwithin the balloon.

In such twisters, drive, for the spindle, yarn take-up means and yarntraversing means, all of which are positioned within the balloon, has tobe transmitted from outside to inside the balloon and the invention isprimarily concerned with this problem.

According to the invention the drive is transmitted by a transmissiontrain comprising a pair of co-axial sunwheels, one within and oneoutside, the balloon and a pair of coaxial planets, carried by the flyerand connected so as to rotate in unison, each planet being positionedopposite to, and being connected with, one of the sunwheelsrespectively.

The outside sun wheel can be driven with a consequent drive beingtransmitted to the sun Wheel within the balloon and this sun wheel canbe arranged to drive the take-up means, the spindle and the traversingdevice. If the outside sun wheel is held stationary the inside sun wheelwill be driven if the sun wheels have different diameters or if theplanets have different diameters.

In twisters of the type to which the invention relates, the twist perunit length put into the material is dependent on the relationshipbetween the speed of rotation of the flyer and the speed at which thematerial is taken up for delivery to the package within the balloon. Itis normal to drive the take-up means through the flyer and theabove-mentioned relationship and, therefore, the degree of twist, can beadjusted by altering the gear ratio between the flyer and the take-upmeans. This, however, involves the provision within the balloon betweeneach flyer and its associated take-up means, of change gearing or theequivalent, alteration of which can be a long and laborious process,particularly if the number of spindles is great.

If the machine in accordance with the invention is a multi-spindlemachine then the take-up means associated with a number of spindles canhave a common drive and the flyers associated with these spindles canalso have a common but separate drive. The drive for the take-up meansis then variable independently of the flyer drive from outside theballoon. The ratio of take-up speed to flyer speed and therefore thedegree of twist imparted to the material can therefore be varied at allof a number of spindles by a single operation.

The two drives can be completely separate and distinct but, in general,will have a common origin such as an electric motor from which the twodrives proceed in parallel. The motor can be of variable speed type orcan be provided with a change-speed gearbox or the like to enable thespeed of the two drives to be varied in unison.

In the preferred form of the invention, each flyer is in the form of adisc rotating about a vertical axis and is driven through a pulley onits shaft. The yarn take-up means can be in the form of a pair ofrollers, one driven frictionally by the other provided that they areloaded sufi'lciently to preclude slip. Alternatively they can beconstituted by a set of haul pulleys. The sun wheel within the balloonis integral with a gear wheel which drives a driving shaft which isoffset from but parallel to, the axis of the flyer and is held againstrotation around that axis. The driving shaft is used to drive the yarntake-up means, the yarn traversing means and the spindle.

By mounting the driving shaft, the take-up means, the traversing meansand the spindle on a common bracket they can all be held againstrotation about the flyer axis by a common mechanism. This may be in theform of a magnetic holding device, a magnetic field to hold the bracket,existing across the balloon path. Alternatively the mechanism maycomprise a pair of coaxial sun wheels of the same diameter one integralwith the bracket Within the balloon and the other held stationaryoutside the balloon, and a pair of coaxial planets of the same diametercarried by the flyer and connected to rotate in unison, each planetbeing positioned opposite to and being connected with, one of the sunwheels respectively.

If the drive to the parts within the balloon is transmitted by a trainincluding a stationary sun wheel outside the balloon then the additionalmechanism to hold the bracket within the balloon comprises a sun wheelwithin the balloon of the same diameter as the outside sun wheel andintegral with the bracket and a third planet wheel coaxial with theplanets of the drive train and carried by the fiyer within the balloonopposite the bracket sun wheel and having a diameter equal to that ofthe planet outside the balloon.

In all the arrangements described the sun wheels are preferablyconnected to their associated planet wheels by means of internallytoothed belts and the flyer and outside sun wheel drive is alsopreferably transmitted by internally toothed belts. This ensures thatthe various wheels can be driven at very high speed without intro-'ducing lubrication ditliculties. It will be appreciated that anyequivalent arrangement using gears instead of belts would be quitecomplicated and would place a limitation on the speed of rotationbecause of the practical impossibility of providing lubrication. Theinternally toothed belt provides a completely positive drive which alsohas the advantage of being quiet.

In all the arrangements described above, the planets associated with thesunwheels within and without the balloon are normally separate from eachother, if desired they may be provided by separate portions of a singleextended planet wheel. In the former case the planet(s) associated withthe sun wheel(s) within the balloon may be positioned either within orwithout the balloon but in the latter case the single planet wheel willbe positioned outside the balloon.

The invention will now be described by way of example i with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows, somewhat diagrammatically, a sin gle spindle of amachine in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a diagram illustrating a suitable form of drive for thetake-up means of a number of spindles and for the fiyers associated withthose spindles, and

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view taken on the line III-III of FIGURE 1but illustrating an alternative form of drive transmission train.

A number of supply packages such as cops 2 are provided for each spindle4 of the machine (only one spindle being shown in the drawings), theyarn from the cops, after being plied, being wound on to the spindle.The yarn is led from the cops through a tensioning device 6 and astationary guide eye 8 attached to the machine framework, to the eye 10of a rotating flyer 12. From the flyer, the yarn passes up a tube 14arranged coaxially with the flyer axis, to a pair of driven take-uprollers 16 providing a positive nip so that they act to pull the yarnthrough the flyer eye. The yarn is laid on a pack- 3 age 18 carried bythe spindle 4, by a butterfly yarn guide 20 which is reciprocated by arotated traverse scroll 22.

The flyer which is in the form of a disc, has a shaft 28 which isrotated about a vertical axis. Rotation of the flyer causes the lengthof yarn between the flyer eye and the stationary eye 8 to billow into aballoon 30 and be whirled round the spindle 4, the take-up rollers 16and the tube 14, between the inner and outer balloon guide rings 32 and34.

For each revolution of the flyer two turns of twist are given to theyarn, one turn being inserted between the eye 10 and tension device 6and the other between the flyer eye 10 and take-up rollers 16. Thus, ifthe flyer is rotated at a speed of 3000 r.p.m. there will be 6000 turnsof twist inserted in the yarn per minute. The number of turns per inchin the yarn depends, of course, on the speed with which the yarn istaken-up by the rollers 16.

The take-up rollers 16 and the flyer 12 are driven independently of eachother by drives such as those shown diagrammatically in FIGURE 2.Therein is shown a driving motor 35 driving a shaft 36 on which thereare two pulleys 37, 38 through a change-speed mechanism 39. The pulley37, which is the power take-off for the take-up means, drives a pulley40 on a shaft 41 which, through a change speed mechanism 42 drives apulley 43. The pulley 43 drives a pulley 44 on the flyer shaft 28through a belt 45. The pulley 38, which is the power take-01f for theflyer, drives a pulley 46 on a shaft 47 carrying also a pulley 48 whichdrives the flyer shaft 28 through a belt 49 and a pulley 50. All thepulleys are toothed and are connected to each other by internallytoothed belts so that the two drives are positive.

The pulley 44, which is rotatable on the flyer shaft, is integral withone, 51, of a pair of equal diameter sun wheels 51, 52 the other one 52of which is carried by the tube 14 on the other side of the flyer andwithin the balloon. The sun wheels are connected together through a pairof coaxial toothed planet wheels 53, 54 of equal diameter and mountedone on each side of the flyer on a spindle 55 passing through andcarried by the flyer. Each sun wheel is connected to the adjacent planetwheel by one of a pair of internally toothed belts 56, 58. Thus,rotation of the sun wheel 51 by its pulley 44 causes an equal rotationof the other sun wheel 52 within the balloon, irrespective of the speedof rotation of the flyer.

The sun wheel 52 is integral with a gear wheel 60 which drives a spindledriving shaft 62 off-set from the axis of rotation of the flyer. Theshaft 62 is provided between its end with a spiral gear 64 meshing witha similar gear in driving connection with one of the take-up rollers 16.The other take-up roller is loaded so that the two rollers provide apositive non-slipping nip. The speed of rotation of the take-up rollersdetermines the speed at which the yarn is taken up by the package 18 andhence, for a given flyer speed, the twist per inch given to the yarn.The twist per inch in fact is dependent on the ratio of flyer speed ofthe speed of the take-up rollers. For a flyer speed of, for example,3000 rpm. the speed of the take-up rollers can be adjusted to give anyreasonable twist to the yarn for example a twist of between two andeight turns per inch can be inserted for one particular use.

The driving belt 45 is shown in FIGURE 1 as passing round the pulley 44which is outside the balloon. The belt therefore can be made to passround the corresponding pulleys 44 of a number of spindles. As thetake-up rollers of all these spindles have a common drive outside theballoon, the speed of all the take-up means can be varied as a singleoperation by adjusting, in the case under consideration, thechange-speed mechanism 42. Adjustment of the degree of twist is,therefore, a simple matter. Also, the speed of the take-up rollers andthe speed of the flyers, can be adjusted in unison by means of thechange-speed mechanism 39.

The upper end of the spindle driving shaft 62 is also provided with aspiral gear 66 meshing with a corresponding gear 68 on the traversescroll 22 so that the traverse scroll is driven directly by the spindledriving shaft. Rotation of the scroll causes a butterfly yarn guide 20,which engages in the traversing groove 70 of the scroll to bereciprocated parallel to the axis of the spindle so that the yarn islaid evenly on to the package 18 carried by the spindle. The spindle isdriven from the shaft 62 through the scroll 22 to which it is connectedby a chain drive 72 through a slipping clutch 74.

The gearing between the spindle and the take-up rollers is arranged sothat the take-up speed of the package, with no clutch slippage, alwaysexceeds the letofi speed of the rollers. In use, therefore, the clutchis continuously slipping so that the spindle is driven only at thecorrect speed to take-up the yarn delivered to it by the rollers 16. Thepressure of the clutch determines the tension of the yarn between therollers 16 and the package and this pressure is adjustable so that acorrect yarn tension can be obtained for any yarn specification.

The spindle 4, traverse scroll 22, take-up rollers 16 and tube 14together with the drive for the take-up rollers and spindle are carriedby a common bracket diagrammatically shown at 76 within the balloon. Thebracket is mounted on the tube 14 which in turn is mounted in bearingson a projection 78 extending from the upper side of the flyer. The tube14 and hence the bracket 76, has to be immobilised or held againstrotation with the flyer. This is done here by positively connecting atoothed sun wheel 80, fixed to the tube 14 within the balloon, to astationary coaxial toothed sun wheel 82 of the same diameter mounted onthe flyer shaft outside the balloon, through a pair of equal coaxialtoothed planet wheels 84, 86 mounted one on each side of the flyer on acommon spindle passing through and carried by the flyer. The sun wheelsare connected to the adjacent planet wheels by means of internallytoothed belts 88. As the sun wheel 82 outside the balloon is fixed in astationary position and is of the same diameter as the sun wheel withinthe balloon and as the two planet wheels are of the same diameter, thesun wheel 80 within the balloon is held stationary when the fiyerrotates. Thus, all the parts of the machine carried within the balloonby the bracket are also held stationary.

It will be seen that the planets 84, 86 of the immobilising train arecarried on the flyer diametrically opposite to the planets 53, 54 of thedrive transmission train. The flyer is thus substantially in dynamicbalance. This balance is helped by the fact that the pair 51, 52 ofdrive sun wheels straddle the pair 80, 82 of restraint sun wheels.

The toothed wheels 51, 52, 53, 54, 80, 82, 84, 86 are all relativelylight and small in diameter. They are positively connected by thetoothed belts 56, 58, 88 so no slip occurs, the twist per inch impartedto the yarn is kept constant and no lubrication is needed. Thisconstruction enables the flyer which is itself relatively light inweight to be rotated at a high speed.

As explained, the flyer and the take-up means have independent drivesoriginating outside the balloon so that the speed of the take-up meansof all or of some of the spindles can be varied by a single operation.In other words, the take-up means are driven not in series with theassociated flyer but rather in parallel therewith. The twist per inchimparted to the yarn wound on the spindles can be altered for some orall the spindles by a single adjustment, instead of separately adjustingeach spindle drive.

The two parallel drives are positively linked so that there can be noslip in the one drive relative to the other. If, as described above, allthe belt drives are pOStllVC, there will be no slip under anycircumstances. The 1mportance of this is that the same twist is impartedto the yarn during starting up as when the machine is running at fullspeed.

-In some circumstances the drive to the flyer need not be positivebecause little or no slip would occur at the high speed of rotation, butin such cases it is still advantageous to have a positive drive to thetake-up means after the change speed gear box 42 when the speed isrelatively low.

It is possible to drive the take-up means and to hold the supportbracket stationary Within the balloon by a transmission train includingonly a single sun wheel outside the balloon. Such an arrangement isshown in FIGURE 3.

:The immobilising of the bracket is achieved by a transmission trainwhich is the same as that described with reference to FIGURE 1 but thedrive transmission train difiers.

;The drive sun wheel 52 is connected to a planet 90 by an internallytoothed belt 92, which planet is coaxial with the planets 84, 86 and iscarried on the same shaft passing through the flyer. The diameter of theplanet 90 differs from that of the planet 86 connected to the fixed sunwheel 82 outside the balloon. Thus as the flyer is rotated the sun wheel80, which has the same diameter as the fixed sun wheel 82, is heldstationary but the sun wheel 52 is driven at a speed dependent on theflyer speed and the ratio of the diameter of the planet 90 to that ofthe planet 86. It will be appreciated that a drive will be imparted tosun wheel 50 provided that either the planet 90 has a diameter differentfrom planet 86 or the sun wheel 52 has a diameter different from sunwheel 82.

It will be realised that this alternative does not have the advantage ofbeing able to vary the drive to the take-up means independently of theflyer drive as is the case of the machine illustrated in FIGURE 1.However it is convenient when the yarn speed is controlled by let-oifrollers outside the balloon, or in the case of a spinning machine, bythe delivery rollers of a drafting head.

The mechanism for immobilising the bracket from movement as describedwith reference to FIGURES 1 and 3 is not essential. Any alternativemechanism may be used in a machine in accordance with the invention. Forexample the framework of the machine outside the balloon may be providedwith a magnet aligned with a second magnet carried by the bracket withinthe balloon. The force of attraction between the magnets holds thebracket stationary, when the flyer rotates, with the material in theballoon passing through the magnetic field between the magnets.

The means for transmitting drive from outsideto inside the balloon inaccordance with the invention can be employed not only in a twister ashas been described in detail, but also in a two-for-one spinning machinesuch as that described in our co-pending patent application No. 205,383,filed June 26, 1962.

I claim:

1. A two-for-one yarn twisting machine of the inflow type having anumber of winding assemblies, each assembly comprising a bracket,take-up means including a Winding spindle, mounted on the bracket, aflyer at one end of the bracket to balloon yarn around the bracket, thetake-up means being driven by a transmission train comprising a pair ofcoaxial sun wheels, one on each side of the flyer and a pair of coaxialplanet wheels carried by the flyer and connected so as to rotate inunison, each planet wheel being positioned opposite to and beingconnected with one of the sun wheels respectively, all the sun wheels ofthe winding assemblies which are located on that side of theircorresponding flyers remote from the brackets, having a common drive andall the flyers having a common but separate drive so that the drive tothe sun wheels and hence the drive to the take-up means is variableindependently of the flyer drive from the side of the flyers remote fromthe brackets.

2. A yarn twisting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the commondrive for the take-up means, and the common drive for the flyers emanatefrom a common source, the ratio between the drives being variable by achange speed device.

3. A two-for-one yarn twisting machine of the inflow type having anumber of winding assemblies, each assembly comprising a bracket,take-up means including a winding spindle, mounted on the bracket, aflyer at one end of the bracket to balloon yarn around the bracket, thetakeup means being driven by a transmission train comprising a pair ofcoaxial sun wheels, one on each side of the flyer and a pair of coaxialplanet wheels carried by the flyer and connected so as to rotate inunison, each planet wheel being positioned opposite to and beingconnected with one of the sun wheels respectively, all the sun Wheels ofthe winding assemblies which are located on that side of theircorresponding flyers remote from the brackets, having a common drive andall the flyers having a common but separate drive so that the drive tothe sun wheels and hence the drive to the take-up means is variableindependently of the flyer drive from the side of the flyers remote fromthe brackets, the bracket of each assembly being held against rotationwith the corresponding flyer by a mechanism comprising a second pair ofcoaxial sun wheels of the same diameter, one integral with the bracketand the other held stationary on the other side of the flyer and asecond pair of coaxial planet wheels of the same diameter carried bytheflyer one on each side thereof, each planet beingpositioned opposite toand being connected with one of the sun wheels of the said second pairof sun wheels respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS519,491 Baker May 8, 1894 1,828,136 Freelander Oct. 20, 1931 2,143,203Maxham Jan. 10, 1939 2,526,147 MacCreadie Oct. 17, 1950 2,575,476 TruittNov. 20, 1951 2,737,773 Clarkson Mar. 13, 1956

1. A TWO-FOR-ONE YARN TWISTING MACHINE OF THE INFLOW TYPE HAVING ANUMBER OF WINDING ASSEMBLIES, EACH ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A BRACKET,TAKE-UP MEANS INCLUDING A WINDING SPINDLE, MOUNTED ON THE BRACKET, AFLYER AT ONE END OF THE BRACKET TO BALLOON YARN AROUND THE BRACKET, THETAKE-UP MEANS BEING DRIVEN BY A TRANSMISSION TRAIN COMPRISING A PAIR OFCOAXIAL SUN WHEELS, ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE FLYER AND A PAIR OF COAXIALPLANET WHEELS CARRIED BY THE FLYER AND CONNECTED SO AS TO ROTATE INUNISON, EACH PLANET WHEEL BEING POSITIONED OPPOSITE TO AND BEINGCONNECTED WITH ONE OF THE SUN WHEELS RESPECTIVELY, ALL THE SUN WHEELS OFTHE WINDING ASSEMBLIES WHICH ARE LOCATED ON THAT SIDE OF THEIRCORRESPONDING FLYERS REMOTE FROM THE BRACKETS,